And this is how you evolve a design
by Volker Weber
These are three generations of Apple Watch. Do you notice the difference? There is none. Apple got the design right on the first product and they have been iterating the internals year after year. They have re-assigned the buttons since they did not get the software right in watchOS 1 and 2. But they kept a steady hand at the industrial design. Your first Apple Watch does not look different from the newest ones.
The Aluminium case comes in Gold, Silver and Space Gray. The Steel case is available in Stainless and Space Black Stainless. The Ceramic case comes in gray and white finishes. Watches can be 38 mm or 42 mm and bands are available in lots of materials and colors. There are special models in cooperation with Nike and Hermès. All of these options allow you to express yourself and to spend anywhere between 269 € and 1499 €.
But no matter what you spend, you will get an Apple Watch.
Comments
For about ten years I wore an analog watch that weigh 115 gram incl. band. I really liked the heavy weight.
Then I bought the Apple Watch 1 Aluminum. I did not want to spend much then since the first series ages fastest. Now I upgraded to the Apple Watch 3 Steel, moving from the lightest to the heaviest Apple Watch and I am surprised by its weight (which is not much compared to my old analog watch). I got to get used to feeling the watches weight again. And I wonder, will I still like a heavy watch? I will find out.
Apple Watch 1 Aluminium 42mm Case: 30 g
Apple Watch 3 Aluminium 42mm Case (GPS): 32,3 g
Apple Watch 3 Aluminium 42mm Case (GPS + Cellular): 34,9 g
Apple Watch 3 Ceramic 42mm Case (GPS + Cellular): 46,4 g
Apple Watch 3 Steel 42mm Case (GPS + Cellular): 52,8 g
That is actually not heavy. I have a titanium mechanical watch with titanium band and that combination weighs 112 g.
So, you "evolved" a design by not changing it?
By changing it only so little that the customer does not notice. The cases are not really the same. Many successful products follow that principle. The iPhone 6, 6S, 7 and 8 do as well. Not really the same, but they defy fashion.
Yes, this is a dichotomy we struggle with as we get "less young": technology changes and we want things to get better, but we also don't want to have to needlessly (re)learn things.
Also something Microsoft has not figured out as it wrestles with making Windows 10 usable.
